The Irish standard., 1887-01-22
IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE
They are De7oting Much Attention to Ire
lands Cause.-The Journal des
Debats, One of the Leading
ORGANS OF OPINION IN FRANCE,
On the Irish Contest for Home Rule--Evi-
dences Of Particular Inquiry
into the Problem.

into the PrODlenl.
What is it that the people OF Ireland
ask for? First of all, their right to
live, that is TO say, the settlement OF
the land question and their right to
self government, that is to say, the es-
tablishment Of Home Rule. Under the
first head, the Irish, who, as regards
their personal wants. are OF all the Eu-
ropean populations the most easily con-
tented, claim that the land should be
held at such g rent as can be paid by
the tenant without deprivlng him OF
What is necessary for the support of
himself and Of his family, This mes
to the same thing as SAY ing that in
the greater number OF tenancies as they
now stand the rents should be notably
reduced Those fixed by the land
court are even already too high in conse-
ouence of the foreign competition,
which has brought about a very consid-
able reduction in Che money value of
tile crops; and this fall III prices, in the
opinion of those most competent to
form q judgment on the subject, must
according to present experiences, be Ee-
gar.led rs likely to continue, if, indeed
it does not become still more marked
This is q fact now recognized PRACTICAL
ly by all. The present state OF affairs,
then. is that the Irish farmer cannot pay
his rent if he does not wish to starve.
That is the Irish land question stated
in it's simplest terms. 1t is only equi
table that the landlords should bear
THELK SHARE or THE loss
resulting from the present condition OF
the agricultural interest. Tnis is a pri-
vation, no doubt But as the produce
of the soil has fallen off in value, the
land is no longer worth what it was.
The same state of things exists in Eng
land, and there the landlords goluntar
lily grant large reductions TO their ten
ants, simply because the tenants would
otherwise be unable to pay at ALL Yet
the English farmer is in a much better
position than his Irish neighhOr, for
the English landlords expend consider
able sums III draining and in improving
the farms generally while in the sister
island all this has been done out of the
pocket Of the tenant. And not only the
farmers but the laDorers Of England are
better off than those OF Ireland. The
English laborer is better paid, and
when agricultural work fails him, he
has in the numerous industries of his
country his choice OF the means of MAX
ing out a livelihood. The Irish Ia
borer has nothing Of the kind t. fall
back upon. If the land does not pro-
vide him with the means of subsisst-
ence. there is nothing to stand between
him and famine. at present there are
III the western districts OF Ireland
vast number of small tenants who are
able to scrape together what will pay
then rent of 93 or tet year only by
crossing every summer to England, to
work there as harvest laborers. While
they are away from home, their wives
and children cultivate their little farms,
which produce just q suf1iclency of po-
tatOes
TO KEEP AWAY HUNGER
from the door. 1t is quite evident that
these poor people are paying too much
for their land. The remedy for all this
is plain The rents must be reduced.
or the Irish farmers must be made pro-
prietors Of the soil they till. AS for
the question Of self government, what
the Irish ask for is The right of manag-
ing their own otfairs, q right now en-
joyed by the English and Scotch. Scot
land, it is true. has not {; national Par
but she has her own code Of
law. whether civil or criminal. The
is Scottish So are the
judges. Above all, the landlords are
Scotchmen, and between them and |
their tenants there is a bond Of SYM
pathy, for they are enc with them in
race and in religion, all Of which is
wanting in Ireland. Besides, in the
Parliament at Westminster the Scotch
members have in a certain sense a Par.
lament of their own, for whenever
purely Scotch question is under discus.
sion the English members, in virtue of
a sort of understanding which has now
become part Of an unwrtten law of the
House, abstain from taking part in the
leaving the Scotch men,
bers to manage their own affairs, and
confining their interference TO vote
IN accordance with the prevailing Scot
tish view Of the question. But when
Irish affairs are in question the very
opposite course was pursued. Every
one takes part in the discussion, and it
sgenerally those that talk the loudest
hat carry the day. There is in all this
] fragrant inequality in the English